British MotoGP: Title chase ‘easy’ for Jorge Lorenzo

Dani Pedrosa has told MCN that arch Spanish rival Jorge Lorenzo should find it a formality to lift his first MotoGP world crown in 2010 with Valentino Rossi sidelined through injury.

The broken right leg Rossi suffered during practice for his home race in Mugello earlier this month killed off the Italian’s hopes of a tenth Grand Prix title. 

And his absence made Lorenzo a red-hot favourite with the double world 250GP champion holding a healthy 25-point advantage over Repsol Honda rival Pedrosa going into the fifth race at Silverstone on Sunday. 

Triple world champion Pedrosa told MCN: “He (Rossi) left Lorenzo alone at the top of the championship with a big lead. I think it looks pretty easy for him but for me I just have to keep trying.

“Without Rossi you have one more spot in the top three because he was always going to be there. But the championship is still a championship and you have to fight against your rivals and sometimes your bike and the conditions.

“Rossi was a big thing but you still have to cope with many things if you want to win the championship. You have to fight against Lorenzo but without Rossi there is one spot left because he was not behind us and now he’s gone.”

Mugello winner Pedrosa certainly hasn’t ruled himself out of title contention at such an early stage in the season but he said the key point will be to ensure he’s fighting for the victory in every race.

He added: “If I can keep my level of Mugello then yes (can fight for title). But if I don’t have the consistency then it will be difficult. Right now I’ve had two good races and two bad races, so I just need to have a better average of the good races.”